


Pride and Joy

by wisp_of_a_spook



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Babies, Comfort, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Happy Ending, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:26:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27553807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wisp_of_a_spook/pseuds/wisp_of_a_spook
Summary: Lucius boasts non-stop about his newborn son to anyone who will listen. But behind closed doors, he's distant and removed, leaving Draco's care to the nurse.When Narcissa wakes in the middle of the night and heads to the nursery, she finds Lucius's proclamations may not be as empty as she had originally believed.
Relationships: Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy
Comments: 4
Kudos: 41





	Pride and Joy

Lucius boasted non-stop about his son. From business lunches to dinner parties, he managed to find a way to mention Draco. Pure blooded. Heir to the Malfoy fortune. A firstborn son, full of promise. He bragged without end, without shame, oozing pride.

Behind closed doors, Narcissa was the one who cradled Draco in her arms. Tending him when the nurse couldn’t soothe his crying. She bathed him and changed him and burped him and her pride gleamed in a different way. Soft. Quiet. Unwavering and pure.

In the dark depths of Malfoy Manor, Narcissa sat with little Draco, asleep on her lap, his fist curled around her finger. In that moment, he didn’t look like an heir. He didn’t look like the sole bearer of the Malfoy name, burdened with an inordinate amount of expectations.

He looked small. Innocent. Unmarked and uninhibited by the world outside waiting to mold him, shape him. Hurt him. Break him.

The echo of Lucius’s return made its way through the Manor - the click of the door, the low murmur of voices as the house elf reported when dinner would be served, the steady clip of Lucius’s footsteps in the foyer. Then on to the stairs. In a moment, he reached the hallway outside the nursery.

Narcissa knew better than to hold her breath and hope for his appearance. As far as Lucius was concerned, baby Draco was the nurse’s priority, not his. Only when Draco was old enough to learn his responsibilities as the Malfoy successor would Lucius step in to fulfill his role of mentor.

But Narcissa found herself staring at the door anyway. Willing it to open, to see Lucius’s figure fill the doorway.

His footsteps passed. Receded. Silence.

Draco blinked awake and when he met Narcissa’s gaze, he started to squirm, sensing her confliction. She shushed him, stroking his smooth cheek with one fingertip and kissed his tiny hand.

“No need to fret, my sweet little boy,” she whispered. _Your papa loves you,_ sat on the tip of her tongue. 

But she couldn’t say it. The certainty wasn’t there. If she wasn’t certain, it might as well be a lie, and she couldn’t bear to lie to her son.

That night, as Narcissa lay in bed, the ceaseless _tick-tick-tick_ of the clock wiled away one minute after another without Lucius’s appearance. She hadn’t seen him all day, apart from passing his study once, a passing glimpse as Lucius sorted through piles of Ministry parchments on his desk.

Narcissa tried to not fault him for it. The Ministry was his job and he did it well, providing for his family without complaint.

But she couldn’t stop the aching want that he might choose his home over the Ministry. Just once. 

_Tick-tick-tick._

Did Lucius realize how fast time was slipping through his fingers already? Did he realize how Draco grew with every day Lucius wasn’t there?

The clock chimed once. Twice. Three times. The darkness felt cold and heavy, pressing close around Narcissa. She stretched her arm out, ran her hand over the bed beside her. The sheets empty, chilled with Lucius’s absence.

Narcissa sighed and sat up. The thought of Lucius still in his study at this hour - again - turned her stomach sour. She had to talk to him. While he proclaimed pride for his son to anyone who would listen, he certainly didn’t show it when his audience had departed.

Narcissa tugged on her robe as she headed out of the room. Dread sat like a lump of cold steel in her gut as she made her way through the dark hallways. She didn’t need light to know how many steps it would take to reach Lucius’s study, to cross his threshold and confront him.

As she passed the nursery, a faint halo of light emanated from the doorway. 

Narcissa paused, her bare feet recoiling from the cold, hardwood floor.

 _Just the nurse,_ she thought. 

_Draco,_ her heart said, and she altered course, veering toward the nursery without a second thought.

Narcissa tiptoed to the door and peeked into the room. If the nurse had just managed to get Draco to sleep, Narcissa didn’t want to wake him.

But the nurse wasn’t there. Instead, seated by the window with a light burning low was Lucius. Little Draco lay fast asleep, sprawled across Lucius’s chest. Draco yawned, his mouth a small, pink O, and nuzzled deeper into Lucius’s shoulder.

Lucius had curved his hand around Draco’s back in a secure embrace, eyes closed, his head tipped back at an angle that would surely leave his neck sore by morning.

Narcissa crept into the nursery and perched on the windowsill beside them. She cupped her hand to the back of Draco’s head, his pale curls as soft as downy feathers against her fingers. With her other hand, she brushed her knuckles across Lucius’s cheek.

In that moment, she wanted to crow from the rooftops with joy.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it, darlings! Feel free to leave a comment or hop over to tumblr and say hi @wisp-of-a-spook!


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